You Say Biscotti, I Say Mandel Bread

Are you wondering what the heck Mandel Bread is?  It's a biscotti cookie with a fancy name! And in Yiddish it literally means almond bread.  I haven't posted a recipe for nearly a year.  Shocking. This time last year I was in Hawaii and working through the grief of losing my mother.  This year, as we approach fall....coming soon...I hope...., I was thinking about something you could arrange on a platter with other beautiful sweet treats for the Jewish New Year.  I found my mother's recipe, in her handwriting, and with a few tweaks here and there, I'm going to share it with you.  Now, you don't have to celebrate the Jewish New Year or any other Jewish holiday to enjoy Mandel Bread.  After all, it's just like a biscotti.  And if you've ever dug into your pocket at Starbucks or another coffee shop to pay $1.75 for one lousy, little biscotti to dunk into your coffee, then you might be interested in trying this really easy, really yummy recipe.  I'm just getting started folks.  Today Chocolate Chip and Almond.  Tomorrow....I already know!  But it's a secret until my next post.  Try this soon and let me know in the comment section how it tastes with your morning cup of coffee or tea.

CHOCOLATE CHIP AND ALMOND MANDEL BREAD
3 1/4 cups of all purpose flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup oil*
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
3/4 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chocolate chips

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat three eggs until light and fluffy.  Gradually add the sugar.  Add the oil in a slow steady stream, continuing to beat well with the mixer.  Add the extracts.

Mix the rest of this dough by hand by adding the sifted dry ingredients, the chopped almonds and lastly the chocolate chips.  The mixture should be looking very shiny and should be coming together very nicely.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with waxed paper.  Divide the dough in half and form each half into a log approximately 12 inches long or so,  and 3 inches wide, and no more than an inch or so high.  Place the cookie sheet in the preheated oven, and bake for about 25 minutes.  Remove the pan from the oven and allow the breads to cool right in the pan for at least 20 minutes.  When they're cool enough to handle, carefully remove each bread from the waxed paper and place onto a cutting board.  Using a serrated edged knife, slice into approximately 14 to 15 slices.  Do one loaf at a time.  Let the other one just sit there.  Place these slices cut side down onto the same cookie sheet, no waxed paper.  And bake for another 15 minutes or so, turning the slices over half way through.  This second baking dries the cookie out beautifully.  It may still seem sort of soft when you remove them from the pan, but they become crumbly and delicious as they cool.  Repeat this second baking process with the other loaf.

Some of my pictures leave much to be desired, but I wanted to include them anyway so you can see for yourself what these things look like in the preparation stage.

*A note on oil - I've been into using Extra Virgin Organic Coconut Oil lately.  Delicious aroma aside, its ability to be substituted just about anywhere you would use oil makes it a perfect choice for a heart healthy oil with its cholesterol lowering properties.  So, eat your coconut oil!!!  I'm pretty sure my mother didn't use coconut oil, but we can.

Chocolate Crusted Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

Whew... that's a big name for this little pie.  But I couldn't just call it a pumpkin pie.  One member of my household called it a Hybrid Special. I thought that was pretty funny. But who would find my pie searching for Hybrid Special?  If you own my cookbook, you know that I feature this pie in the dessert section, except that in that recipe I use a regular pie crust and glaze the top of the cooled pie with a maple syrup concoction.  Sounds pretty good, right?  It is.  But not being able to leave well enough alone, I decided that these four things, chocolate, pumpkin, orange and cream cheese would taste pretty good together.  And they do.  Try this one of these days before the holidays and decide for yourself if offering a variation on a theme would be a good idea.  I offered a choice last Thanksgiving, and everyone loved both the traditional pie and the Hybrid!  Here's the recipe.

CHOCOLATE CRUSTED PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE PIE
1 chocolate pie crust (such as Oreo brand)
1 8 oz. pkg. of cream cheese, softened (I used the Neufchatel 1/3 less fat)
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. freshly grated orange peel
1 egg

1 1/4 cups of canned pumpkin (don't stress over the little bit that's left in the can)
1 cup evaporated milk (use the rest for your coffee or cooking)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/4 tsp. cloves
Dash of salt
Whipped cream for garnish

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place the pie crust on a cookie sheet and set aside.
• Combine the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, orange peel and egg. Beat on low speed with a mixer until smooth. Spread onto the bottom only of the pie crust and even it out with the bottom of your spoon.
• Combine remaining pie ingredients and mix very well until nice and smooth. 
• Carefully pour this mixture over the cream cheese mixture. You might have a little bit left that just won't fit.
• Place pie in the oven on the cookie sheet to prevent a spill and bake for around 60 minutes or until a tester comes out clean.
• Remove pie from oven and cool on a rack completely.
• Chill and garnish with whipped cream. A few chocolate sprinkles on top of the whipped cream, or a couple of candy corn arranged nicely would look great!  Enjoy!!!

Note ~ you can substitute 1 3/4 tsp. of pumpkin pie spice for the individual spices above.

Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

Could I eat just one of these cookies? I think not. That's why I made some of them with semi-sweet dark chocolate kisses.  I figured dark chocolate is good for you, right? So I feel half as guilty by having eaten one with dark chocolate and one with an unbelievably yummy Reese's miniature peanut butter cup. Oh, whoever came up with this idea, one thousand thank yous!!!  Now, I only changed the recipe up a bit, I can never leave well enough alone. I used a favorite peanut butter cookie recipe of mine, and rolled the dough in sugar before baking. That's all!  Get to the store and buy these ingredients and start baking. You'll be happy you did. I  don't want to get graphic, but I brought these to my hair salon, and the response was that these cookies rivaled a sexual experience.  S'all I'm sayin'.


PEANUT BUTTER CUP COOKIES

1/2 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1 egg
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 1/4 cp. flour
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
40 Reese's miniature peanut butter cups OR
half and half Reese's and Hershey's Kisses


Cream together the softened butter and sugars. Mix in the vanilla and peanut butter, then the egg. Mix together all the dry ingredients (flour through salt) and add all at once to the creamed mixture, mixing very well. Refrigerate for at least an hour, overnight if you want to do this at another time.


When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Shape dough into balls about the size of a walnut, maybe a little smaller. Roll in a dish of granulated sugar and place each ball into an ungreased mini muffin pan. Bake for 8 to 8 1/2 minutes. Remove from oven and immediately place a peanut butter cup into the center of the cookie cup, pressing down gently so the candy is flush with the height of the cookie cup. Allow to cool in the mini muffin pan for a few minutes, and they will come out of the pan much easier. You can give them a nudge by sliding a knife carefully around the outside of the cookie to help it out, but you shouldn't have any problem. If you're using Hershey's Kisses, follow the same instructions for placing the candy into the cookie cup. This recipe makes around three dozen, give or take a few. 


Big Tip Here! Unwrap the candies and place them in the freezer while preparing the dough. It makes a big difference to have the candy be slightly or completely frozen before placing on the hot cookie. 

I thought twice about posting a picture with this reeeealllly old mini muffin pan, but I couldn't bring myself to PhotoShop out the worst of it right now, and I wanted you to see what the cookies looked like in the pan. If anyone wants to send me a new mini muffin pan, I'll give you my address ;-)